Precious Anathema (19 page)

“
They are here Lukin.” He
turned and I watched his eyes grow as he looked down the hall
behind me.

“
Delilah whatever you do,
don’t turn around, just walk to me and take my hand, do it now!” I
did as I was told, feeling one cold blast after another, each one
taking my breath with it and almost fell into him as I took his
hand. He was still looking behind me with the eyes of a scared
child as we moved forward. With every new blast I squeezed his
hand; they were going through me with force. They were angry and
they were ganging up on me.

“
Lukin this will never
work, you can’t feel what I do. They will never trust me, and I
don’t blame them. The breaking of this curse was doomed from the
beginning, I can’t do this just take me back to the safe room
please.” He glanced down at me and then his gaze went back to
whatever was following us.

“
I can’t do that Delilah,
You can do this as much as I hate to admit it you are not the one I
am angry at and not the one they should be either, plus if we try
to go back they will get us before we get to the door.” I tried to
look back but he grabbed my face and looked into my eyes. “Don’t
look! They want you to look, they want to scare you and they will
go to great lengths to make sure you don’t make it out of here.
Just keep walking.” I squeezed his hand and kept moving forward
until we went around a corner and I felt so tired I almost
collapsed.

“
Lukin, what is wrong with
me?” He knelt down, guiding me to the floor to rest.

“
They are stealing your
energy every time they go through you, that is how they get their
power. You have been drained to slow you down to make it easier for
them to take you.” He ran his hands through his hair for the first
time since I cut it and felt the first of a few nearly bald
patches; wide eyed he looked at me and shook his head, before he
could lose his temper I giggled.

“
I told you I could cut it;
I never claimed to be any good at it.” I chuckled as he laughed and
tapped my knee.

“
Come on, we need to keep
moving, there has to be something in here that can help you and we
will find it.” I got up on my weak legs and we kept walking through
the darkness. I thought about the word ‘help’ and wondered if he
had been right when he first found me. What if all of this was an
elaborate set up to trap one of the Grace women and make them pay
for a century of torture and manipulation? At the end of the next
hallway we found a set of stairs leading down, both of us looked
behind to make sure we had no other option before descending deeper
into hell, with deep breaths we began taking it step by step and
with each on behind us it actually seemed to get darker. I couldn’t
go back, I couldn’t go up and as we stepped onto the floor flickers
of light danced for us in the far corner of the room. It was the
first light I had seen since we left the safe room, I had no idea
ghosts or demons could possess such beauty as I watched the dance,
I found myself smiling and moving forward as Lukin lunged his arm
out in front of me.

“
Stop, this is some kind of
trick. Don’t take another step. I have been here a long time and
have never seen this before, this show is for you and I doubt its
friendly Delilah.” I backed up not taking my eyes off the lights,
remembering my childhood summer evenings collecting fireflies with
my mother. The lights blocked our only exit if we moved forward and
turning around found that the stairwell was gone now
too.

“
Were trapped here Lukin,
they won didn’t they?” Backing up to the far wall we both slid to
the floor.

“
Look, this isn’t so bad.
With one way in or out we can see anyone coming, so why don’t we
stay here for a bit and rest. The lights make it seem a little
nicer anyway. We can make our plan to get out later,” I felt my
eyelids grow heavier as I watched the dancing lights, Lukin stayed
awake keeping us safe as I drifted off to sleep.

*

“
Delilah, sweetheart it’s
time to wake up.” Opening my eyes the most beautiful light had
filled the room, and the softest voice called to me. I sat up,
Lukin was gone and I was surrounded by light. Grabbing my knees I
crept closer to the wall in fear.

“
Who are you, what do you
want with me?” The light because brighter, and hues of purple and
blue danced through the light as the voice spoke again.

“
You have set us free
Delilah, you have brought light back into our dark world and we owe
you. You don’t need to fear us.” The lights continued to dance and
I was captivated in the rhythms.

“
Who are you, why can’t I
see you?” The lights cast greens and reds all around me.

“
You wish to see us my
dear?” I nodded and then the lights dimmed and I found myself
surrounded by at least two dozen large flying, talking dragonflies.
My eyes began to adjust and I could see legs, hands and breasts.
These were not dragonflies at all, I tried to speak but I couldn’t
find words. One of them with long brown hair rested on my knee,
looking up at me with big green eyes.

“
Delilah, you can get out
of here, but not without our help. We know where the exit is and we
know what obstacles lye ahead of you. We can help you, let us help
you.” I nodded and looked up again, watching as one by one they all
gathered around me. “When you leave this room the real tests begin,
you will enter the under-garden and it lives and breathes like you
and I. The flowers and shrubs crave flesh and will stop at nothing
to get you. The only chance you have is to use the knife you hide,
and keep to the middle of the path. Once you escape the garden you
will find yourself inside the forgotten woods, this might be the
most important part of the journey, the souls are following you and
it is here that you must fight the urge to forget, and in there
confusion you can convince them to come with you, beware Delilah if
you are overtaken in the forest you will never get out. The last
task is the most dangerous, but we will find you and help all of
you out do you understand everything I have told you?” Understand?
No, I didn’t understand any of it but I made mental notes as she
spoke to me. I nodded again, still unable to speak. “We are going
to wake you now, and you will still be able to see us, but Lukin
can’t so you will have to convince him that we are not a threat.
One more thing about Lukin you need to know Delilah, he is not here
for the reasons you believe. He rejected the advances by Emma and
in her anger she threw him in here. He is not the man you think he
is and this knowledge will help keep you alive in the woods as
well. Trust in him.” I closed my eyes and all went black, my mind
was blank for the first time since I could remember. No worries, no
anxieties, no fears to interfere with sleep, no dreams danced in my
head, and as I slowly opened my eyes I felt Lukin’s arm around me
still. He had stayed awake to protect me in my sleep; he really
wasn’t who I thought at all.

*

“
Did you sleep ok?” I sat
up, peeling my face from his bicep and wiping a little drool at the
same time giving him an apologetic smile.

“
I did, thank you Lukin.” I
thought about what the women, fairies actually had told me and
looked at the lights, they were dimmer than before and then I saw
an arm wave to me. This was all too much; I didn’t live in a dream
world. This was the real world where mothers die and children are
left behind to become orphans, a world where the hero doesn’t get
to save the day and not many people ever see a happily ever after.
This was the real world I had grown up in, yet as I looked before
me this fairies smile was as real as my own.

“
Delilah, what’s wrong, why
do you look so scared?” I squeezed his arm and leaned over to
whisper so they wouldn’t hear what I was about to say.

“
They are fucking fairies
Lukin.” His laugh was cut short when my nails dug into his arm.
“They came to me in my sleep and told me which way we have to go,
and the obstacles along the way, listen to me! The lights are the
fairies.” He held a dead stare at the lights in the corner, never
speaking he slowly stood up and started his cautious approach, I
sat against the wall and watched as the lights began to dance
around his body, blues, greens, purples and reds streaked across
his skin, I knew he couldn’t see anything but lights, and found
myself wishing he could have seen the joy on each of their faces as
they showered him with the magic of light.

*

The rage inside my heart grew stronger
as I marched into the house to find my father sitting at the table
with a smirk on his face.

“
How could you do
this
to me?” He raised
an eyebrow and tapped his fingers on the table.

“
To
you
, how could
you
do this to
us
? This
needed
to be done for
your
own good and
someday you will thank me for it.” I was a stone, he had done it,
my soul turned grey as he spoke and my heart became black just not
in the way he had hoped. I felt nothing for this man, nothing for
freedom. Images began to flash through my mind of what I wanted to
do to him, I could kill him right now and no one would miss him. I
could leave and leave him alone, but he expected me to lash out at
him, and the glare from the blade he held under the table told me
that he expected a fight. This was too much for me to bear; I
unclenched my fists and took a breath. He wouldn’t win this one,
and if I ever had a doubt before I knew now that I would not do
what was expected of me. I spoke before I thought, and as the words
came out I knew what would come next.

“
I am going to tell Freya
everything; they have a right to know. Delilah has a right to
know!” He came at me, fists up and screaming in my face.

“
You are not telling anyone
do you understand me? Do not test my patience young man; I can
destroy everything for you. If you aren’t careful you won’t have a
chosen one to kill at all.” He looked me in the eye, threatening
the life of the woman I loved, my own father, flesh and blood. He
would do it too. I hung my head; he had won for the moment. I
turned to walk out without speaking, I had to find a way to tell
someone, and I needed help.

EIGHTEEN

“
What did these lights tell
you exactly?” He turned to face me, all the while waving his arms
around swatting at the lights like common house flies.

“
Stop that Lukin! They are
little people, if you hit one you will kill them and I will kick
your ass!” I knew the words coming out sounded crazy to him, they
sounded crazy to me. I had never been someone who believed in such
things, I had a hard time as a child playing make believe with my
friends, and never had an imaginary friend, but I had to accept
what was right in front of me if I expected to make it out of this
alive.

“
Delilah, you will have to
excuse me if I buy into this delusion. You have been maxed out on
stress and I think it’s clouding your judgment.” I stood up and
walked to him, grabbed his arms and lowered them to his sides, all
the while never breaking eye contact.

“
I have
never
been more serious
Lukin,
STOP
!” I
let go of his hands and he didn’t move them, took a deep breath and
sighed.

“
What did they say we have
to do next then?” I told him
almost
everything they told me, not revealing the truth
I had learned of his prison sentence. His eyes looked to the lights
and then he smiled.

“
I guess that even if I
don’t believe in
them
, I have started to believe in you and that’s enough for me
to move forward.” I sat down on the floor when I heard a noise
behind the wall; it sounded like people were talking and headed in
our direction. Lukin’s eyes grew large as he began to hear the
voices himself.

“
Lukin, can they get in
here?” He started feeling around the wall behind me as the voices
became louder and louder. Grabbing me under my arms he started to
pick me up in hast.

“
They can and they are
coming for you Delilah, we have to get out of here.” I grabbed my
knife and we started running to the lights when I saw the first of
the tortured men make his way into the room through the wall. My
legs stopped moving, and my insides turned as I looked in his eyes.
My head started to pound, an ear piercing sound screamed through
me, and I became suddenly nauseous. He never blinked as he stared
me to the ground, the grin on his face proved to me that the
fairies were right; my only chance was to make them
forget.

“
Delilah!” A bright green
light appeared before me and there stood the most beautiful woman I
had ever seen, she had broken the connection the tortured had with
me and I felt the screaming sounds quiet. I was mesmerized by her
beauty and had to know the name of the woman who was saving my
life.

“
Who are you?” She bent
down to me and smiled.

“
I am Tempest, I am the
very fairy that told you what path to take, and I am here to
protect you, now
Run
Delilah, run
now
and don’t look them in the eye again,
now
go
!” I
got to my feet and Lukin took my hand and as we ran through the
darkened hallway I could still see the lights around us, lighting
the way, and then I saw the trees. We slowed down but clung tighter
to one another as I realized we must be in the garden. My eyes went
directly to the bushes by our feet and I quickly remembered what
Tempest had told me about the plants in the un-garden.